Inspector Rebus Books in Order

by Ian Rankin · 25 books · ★ 4.82 average rating · Updated 11 October 2026

A hard-drinking, rule-breaking Edinburgh detective digs through the city's underworld to solve crimes no one else can.

Here is the complete Inspector Rebus reading order — all 25 books by Ian Rankin, in the order you should read them:

Reading order

1. Knots and CrossesDetective Sergeant John Rebus investigates a series of child abductions in Edinburgh while receiving cryptic letters that seem to taunt him personally, forcing him to confront ghosts from his own past.1987253 pages
2. Hide and SeekThe death of a young addict in a squat marked with signs of occult ritual leads Rebus into a web involving a private club catering to Edinburgh's privileged and corrupt.1991267 pages
3. Tooth and NailLoaned to the London Met to help profile a serial killer dubbed the 'Wolfman,' Rebus is out of his home turf on a case that turns disturbingly personal.1992304 pages
4. Strip JackWhen a respected Member of Parliament is caught in a police raid on a brothel, Rebus's investigation into the ensuing scandal spirals into a case of forgery and murder.1992287 pages
5. The Black BookA hotel fire uncovers a notebook of secrets tied to an unsolved crime from years earlier, pulling Rebus into a case that touches his own family and Edinburgh's underworld.1993346 pages
6. Mortal CausesA body found in a tourist tunnel beneath Edinburgh's Old Town, bearing marks of paramilitary punishment, drags Rebus into the city's hidden links to sectarian violence.1994320 pages
7. Let It BleedThe apparent suicide of two joyriders after a police car chase leads Rebus to a conspiracy reaching into the highest levels of local government and business.1995368 pages
8. Black and BlueRebus finds himself dogged by an old unsolved serial murder case as a copycat killer begins operating and his own conduct comes under internal scrutiny.1997512 pages
9. The Hanging GardenInvestigating a suspected war criminal living quietly in Edinburgh, Rebus is simultaneously drawn into a brutal gang war involving people traffickers.1998424 pages
10. Dead SoulsThe return of a convicted child killer to Edinburgh, a missing persons case, and a zoo escape all collide as Rebus confronts uncomfortable truths from his own past.1999472 pages
11. Set in DarknessThe discovery of a decades-old skeleton in a building being renovated for the new Scottish Parliament sets Rebus on a case entwined with politics and old grudges.2000432 pages
12. The FallsThe disappearance of a banker's daughter, accompanied by an eerie miniature coffin left as a clue, leads Rebus and DC Siobhan Clarke into a case with historical echoes.2001496 pages
13. Resurrection MenSent to a retraining course for problem officers, Rebus goes undercover among his own troubled colleagues to investigate a cold case of evidence tampering.2002448 pages
14. A Question of BloodA shooting at a private school with a personal connection to Rebus's own family draws him into a case complicated by his conflicted loyalties.2003440 pages
15. Fleshmarket CloseThe murder of an asylum seeker in a housing scheme pulls Rebus into Edinburgh's underbelly of immigration, exploitation, and old bones unearthed nearby.2004448 pages
16. The Naming of the DeadSet against the backdrop of a G8 summit and its protests, Rebus investigates a suspicious death that authorities are eager to dismiss as accidental.2006472 pages
17. Exit MusicIn his final days before mandatory retirement, Rebus tackles the murder of a dissident poet that draws him into Edinburgh's shadowy world of finance and politics.2007419 pages
18. Standing in Another Man's GraveNow working cold cases, a retired-but-returned Rebus investigates a string of disappearances of young women along a Scottish highway that may be linked after all.2012389 pages
19. Saints of the Shadow BibleA new retrial provision forces Rebus to answer for a decades-old case from his early career as a rookie squad's conduct comes back to haunt him.2013389 pages
20. Even Dogs in the WildA note left beside a murdered lawyer's body draws the now-retired Rebus into an uneasy alliance with his old rival Big Ger Cafferty against a mutual threat.2015368 pages
21. Rather Be the DevilAn unsolved decades-old hotel murder pulls Rebus back into a case entangled with money laundering and Edinburgh's criminal elite.2016320 pages
22. In a House of LiesThe discovery of a car containing a private investigator who vanished years earlier reopens a case that implicates Rebus's own former colleagues.2018384 pages
23. A Song for the Dark TimesWhen his estranged daughter's partner disappears, Rebus travels to a remote coastal town to investigate while Siobhan Clarke handles a related case back in Edinburgh.2020328 pages
24. A Heart Full of HeadstonesFramed within a courtroom trial, Rebus's past catches up with him as long-serving colleagues and old sins are called into account.2022336 pages
25. Midnight and BlueImprisoned for a crime tied to his past, Rebus investigates a murder within the prison walls while Siobhan Clarke chases a related case on the outside as Edinburgh's underworld fights for power.2024320 pages

Good news: for this series, reading order and publication order are the same — just read straight down the list.

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